A group of us got a tour of the project that is widening the Guide-Meridian road for 10 miles or so north of Bellingham. It crosses several streams, a lake, and the Nooksack River. We were looking at how they avoid polluting those water bodies, mainly with sediments, during construction, and how they were dealing with the potentially polluting storm-water runoff from all that extra pavement!
There are an amazing bunch of methods, rules, techniques and engineering feats that manage it all. The rules are very strict.
But just as amazing was that our group was some citizens learning how to monitor construction projects, from public right-of-ways, for potential environmental problems. Our teacher was from the North Sound Baykeepers, a non-profit organization in Bellingham dedicated to clean waters there. Our tour guides were some of the project environment engineers from the Washington State DOT, and an inspector from the Department of Ecology was along as well. To top it off, the Erosion and Sediment Control Lead from the contractor joined us part way into the tour.
Now each of these different groups can certainly be thought of as at odds with one another … Black Hats and White Hats, probably even some Gray Hats. (All Hard Hats!) And often they may be. But … at least on this trip ... all of these folks were very happy to share their knowledge and experiences and war stories … their common themes were 1. They all have the same basic goal – protect/improve the environment; and 2. They are all constantly learning and improving. Our conclusion is that the environment, at least along that stretch of road, is going to be a lot better when they are done than when they started!
We left with a good feeling and one we hope remains after all the highway work going on around here in the NaturalSkagit right now!
Someone asked about the costs of pervious vs. impervious pavement/asphalt. I have not yet gotten those details about the Casino project. However, most projects that do use pervious methods do not cost more than the alternative. Even if the materials cost more, the savings from having much less piping and drains and ponds (taking up real estate) make the difference. Many taxes and fees are based on impervious surface area, so there are often savings there as well.
The Local-Organization-You-Might-Want-To-Be-Involved-With this week is … well … uh … err … the Blogger has had a busy week, so why doesn’t everybody forget about getting involved and instead just go out and enjoy what we got here .. this marvelous, wonderful NaturalSkagit!!!
Here are some near-term activities to consider:
Sat. July 26 Padilla Bay Foundation Smith/Aguero Trust Presentation on the Environment: Potentials for Local Tsunami 1:00pm – 3:00pm Padilla Bay Reserve Free, but RSVP requested – 428-1558 or
Sat. July 26 By Popular Demand! Wild Edible Plants with Marlee Osterbauer 2:00pm – 4:00pm Padilla Bay Reserve http://www.padillabay.gov to register/more info.
Many similar events and activities and opportunities are posted on the GoSkagit Event Calendar. Check it often!
(This blog is a service of the Skagit Conservation Education Alliance http://www.skagitwater.org Your comments will be helpful. New ideas to consider, and changes we should make are especially welcome. Corrections and further enlightenment will help as well. You can email to . Thank you.)
